Shōjo manga on atomic and firebombing themes generally followed the same plotline: a romance unfolds between two young protagonists, who are ripped apart by some consequence of the bombing. It is important to note that manga had a strong influence on anime and its depiction of cute characters.” During what Professor Masashi Ichiki calls the “golden years of the A-bomb manga” (1954-1973), one genre became especially prevalent in popular culture, the shōjo – or “little girl “ – manga, which comprised 39% of A-bomb manga. Their eyes, moist and welcoming, are pools that mirror the nuclear explosion just as clearly as the camera flash.” 3 In a way, this repeated use of cute characters in scenes of tragedy and disaster meant that the figures themselves became synonymous with apocalypse - a trait which became characteristic of this era of anime. These cute figures “offer comfort, and yet they continually deny such a possibility. In fact, she states that: “In the wake of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the comforting qualities of the cute figure are inextricably linked to the discomforting qualities of horror and grief associated with The Bomb”. 1 The rise of cute characters in anime post-war allowed the country to process difficult realisations through a medium that “lives out – animates – questions and problems that are difficult, if not impossible to explore directly.” 2īy contrast, Pauline Moore argues that the rise of cute figures during this period meant that they became intimately linked to images of apocalypse and suffering. ![]() ![]() He argues that this in turn allowed the people of a defeated nation a “transitory moment of dignity. Paul Gravett suggests that animation became an integral medium through which Japan could express and explore its grief, guilt and confusion indirectly. ‘MADE IN JAPAN’ – Cuteness in Post-War AnimeĪ few years after The Bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, a seemingly incongruous trend began in Japanese animation - that of the increased popularisation of the “cute” in its productions. I will explain how A-bomb anime reflected public opinion towards the Japanese government and the Allied Forces, and played a part in reinventing Japan’s global image post-war. In this article, I will explore three recurring elements in A-bomb anime: (1) “cuteness,” (2) the role of female and child characters, and (3) apocalypse, fantasy and technology in more recent anime. Manga and anime began depicting the A-bomb in the 1950’s. This trend emerged in such films as Shindo Kaneto’s Children of Hiroshima (1952), Imamura Shohei’s Black Rain (1989), and with the unnatural blooming of flowers in Alan Resnais’ Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959). In the years that followed, the A-bomb came to be depicted in the arts. Two weeks later Japan entered a new era facing the dual challenges of massive destruction and foreign occupation. Fire-bombings had already devastated 64 major Japanese cities in the final months of the Pacific War. In early August, 1945, “Little Boy” and “Fat Man” destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Keywords : Anime, Manga, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Nuclear, War, Tezuka, America, Women, Technology, Miyazaki, Apocalypse. The author argues that what is concealed within “unrealistic” animation often reveals more than what is shown about people grappling with an apocalyptic legacy in search of a national identity. Anime provides insight into the social attitudes of each post-war era and, into how collective memory has processed “unimaginable” horror. Abstract: This article examines the often-noted “cuteness” in early post-war Japanese animation, and explains how this style has led in more recent years to grittier works depicting war’s devastation through fantasy and cinematic technology.
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